As any parent or pet owner knows, sometimes being good means a firm and perhaps forceful "No!" So good, yes. Gentle, no. A Buddha has the compassion to wish good for all, the wisdom to know what course of action is the most compassionate, and the strength to apply that action when necessary. As for being the "source" of all, I have already addressed that in the other thread.

KeithBC wrote:As any parent or pet owner knows, sometimes being good means a firm and perhaps forceful "No!" So good, yes. Gentle, no. A Buddha has the compassion to wish good for all, the wisdom to know what course of action is the most compassionate, and the strength to apply that action when necessary. As for being the "source" of all, I have already addressed that in the other thread.

Not always gentle, because sometimes one needs to be a little tough. Like when you are tough with a small children doing bad stuff. But you are tough so she can learn. In fact, you are being good to her.

In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does not say them. ...In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and endearing and agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings.

Gentle is the opposite of "unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, unendearing and disagreeable" and it depends wholly on the person what words are the agreeable or gentle enough to penetrate their exterior and bring forth the light from within them.

As any parent or pet owner knows, sometimes being good means a firm and perhaps forceful "No!" So good, yes. Gentle, no

I would like to explain how you are also infinitely gentle, which is infinitely good:

If you were in a so called nirvana( nirvana is what I believe the peace of the Source is like or similar) you wouldn't have to let's say partake in saying no when someone asks you for something. But on a so called "planet earth" as a human we might say no because it might be a more compassionate choice than saying yes.

So by being gentle, good and reasonable in this circumstance on "planet earth" than that's infinitely good and gentle. You should look at the circumstance you are in before you decide how good you are. You are allowed to give yourself reasons for doing what you do. Reasons are sometimes called excuses.